The Whitworth Job
by A Lyrical Dreamer
Summary: On Saturday, April 26th of 2003, three paintings were stolen from the Whitworth Gallery, Manchester, England, evading every single security guard, camera and alarm. They were promptly found, thanks to a mysterious tip, in a nearby public toilet, next to a note which read "The intention was not to steal, only to highlight the woeful security." What if it had been the Leverage Crew?
1. Part 1

**Inspired by the actual Whitworth Gallery theft of '03. I've done my best to stick to the facts but, obviously, I don't actually know what happened that night so my work is definitely a work of fiction. **

**I also don't own Leverage.**

**Please enjoy and review.**

* * *

On Saturday, April 26th of 2003, three paintings, a Van Gogh, a Picasso and a Gaugin were stolen from the Whitworth Gallery, Manchester, England, evading every single security guard, camera and alarm. The Paintings were promptly found, thanks to a mysterious tip, in a nearby public toilet, along side a note which read "The intention was not to steal, only to highlight the woeful security."

What if it had been the Leverage Crew responsible for such a heist?

* * *

"How can we help you Miss Margold," Nate said, sipping a cup of coffee. With some whiskey.

"I heard someone planning something," she said timidly.

"Planning what Miss Margold?" Nate asked.

"I work as an air hostess and there were some men on the flight we took from London to Boston," she paused and let out a breath of air; she was clearly shaken and scared. "They're going to rob a gallery Mr Ford," she said bluntly. "You can't let that happen, what if someone gets hurt?"

"Why haven't you contacted with the police?"

"These men, they know I know what they're planning to do. They threatened me," she said, her voice braking. "And I'm sure they have men watching me. I can't go to the police, they'll kill me."

"Then why tell anyone at all?"

The woman was taken aback.

"Because Mr Ford, it's wrong. And besides, if these men threatened to kill me for overhearing their plan what makes you think they won't kill anyone who gets in the way?"

Nate was convinced.

"When and where is this meant to go down?"

"The Whitworth Gallery," she said smiling, realising he was taking the case. " April 27th. This means you'll help?"

"We'll see what we can do," Nate said, smiling to himself as a plan grew in his mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This is a very straightforward plan," Hardison said, slightly confused.

"Why? Is that a problem?" the mastermind queried.

"Well, it's just that," Sophie began. "_Normally_ there's a lot of flair and trickery but this, well, this is just plain and simple; it's very unlike you."

"It doesn't need to be fancy and cunning. It just has to work. Everybody okay with that?" he asked, though it was more of a rhetorical question.

"As long as I get to steal some paintings yeah!" Parker said enthusiastically.

"Good," the mastermind stated. "Now, Parker, tell me about the security in the Gallery."

"Nothing exceptional and far from impenetrable," the thief began. "The artwork in there is high end; worth a lot. It's not a bad find."

"How much prep do we need?" Eliot asked.

"In and out maybe 9 or 10 minutes. Prep wise maybe four days?" she suggested.

"The job's going down on the 27th so we have to steal it before then," Nate stated.

"That's in three days," Sophie stated. "It's a twenty hour flight to London!"

"We'd better get moving then."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I robbed the Whitworth Gallery once you know?" Parker stated, watching through Sophie's button cam as she surveyed the Gallery for it's security.

"What haven't you robbed Parker?" Eliot asked as he clocked the security guards on the camera feed, courtesy of Hardison. The thief paused for a moment, pondering the question.

"I still haven't done the Museum of Modern Art in New York," she finally declared.

"Pfft," Hardison scoffed. "Even I've done that one."

_ "Can we keep the scoring to a minimum please?"_ Nate ordered over the intercomms.

"Why?" Parker queried. "It's a simple plan remember?"

_ "Simple plan Parker means limited back up options,"_ the mastermind reminded.

"So what did you steal Parker?" Hardison asked, ignorring the request of Nate.

_"When this all goes to hell, don't blame me,"_ Nate muttered, some playfulness in his voice.

"Some painting by some poet," she said.

_ "The Ancient of Days by William Blake?"_ Sophie queried.

"Yeah."

_ "But I saw that there just a few months ago!"_

"You saw a fake," Parker said proudly.

_"That doesn't seem your MO?"_ Nate asked, against his better judgment as he joined in the conversation.

" A forger friend of mine wanted to see how good his work was so I switched it out for him. Apparently it was better than he thought," the thief replied.

_"Attention; the museum will be closing in ten minutes. Please make your way to the nearest exit. Thankyou."_ A voice declared over the museum's speakers, resonating through the earbuds.

_"All right team,_" Nate declared. _"Let's go rob a museum."_

* * *

**To Be Continued**


	2. Part 2

2 am rolled around; all were dressed in their gear. A spare getaway car had been stowed away at a predetermined location. A rendezvous had been set, the plan had been meticulously calculated and recalculated and they were ready to go.

Parker and Eliot were the only two actually in play. Hardison sat at his computer, monitoring the guards frequencies, police scanners and the security feeds. Sophie sat at the drivers' seat in Lucille; ready to leave at a moments notice. Nate sat patiently making sure everything was going to run smoothly.

"Tell us when to go Hardison," Eliot stated as he and the thief hid behind a tree, the back door to the museum in clear view, waiting for the moment when the rotating guards wouldn't see the pair make a break for the back entrance.

_Two Days Earlier_

_"Seriously?" Parker asked as they planned the heist in the hotel, several days earlier. "They only have rotating guards on the outside? Are they trying to get someone to rob them?"_

_"That's why we're doing this Parker," Nate explained. "Hit them where their security is the worst so they improve it."_

_"But rotating guards on the outside?" the thief complained once more. "That's just embarrassing."_

"We're waiting Hardison," Eliot pressed.

_ "Hold your horses,"_ the hacker replied.

_ "Go now,"_ Nate stated a few moments later and the hitter and the thief ran across the garden, taking shelter under the eaves before Eliot stood guard while Parker fiddled with the lock.

_ "Ten seconds before the guard comes back around guys,"_ Hardison stated, only slight panic in his voice.

"Done," Parker declared three seconds later as she pushed the heavy oak door open, Eliot following close behind.

_ "Good job guys,"_ Nate praised as he lent forward on his chair.

_ "Now don't move,"_ the hacker stated. _"You're in the blind spot of the camera but you'll have to wait for it to rotate around before you head across to the next room."_

_Two Days Earlier_

_"Rotating cameras too?" Parker complained once again. "They should just get a rotisserie and be done with it."_

_"Parker," Sophie stated, warning, pleading the thief to stop._

_"Well it's true! If you want people to get caught on camera, don't make it so they can just follow the line of sight!"_

"Stupid…" Parker began to complain once more.

"Parker I swear to god if you complain about the rotating camera's one more time…" the hitter interrupted before he too was cut off by the hacker.

_ "Okay guys go!_" he declared._ "Go hug the east wall and stop as soon as you turn the corner."_

The two did as they were told and quickly made their way around the edge of the room until they made into a large gallery with timber floors and sharp modern edges; a style which did not match the original building. Which, like the rest of the museum, irked Parker.

_Two Days Earlier_

_"They renovated?!"_

_"Yeah why?" the hacker enquired._

_"If they renovated that means they brought in contractors, builders, electricians. They had an opportunity to put in state of the art security and they didn't?"_

_"Wow? You really hate this place don't you?"_

_"Rotating camera's Hardison, rotating cameras," she replied._

_ "Now for the security sensors,"_ Nate declared.

"That's your department," the hitter stated as he hitched his back pack up

"Already taken care of," Parker replied as she smiled a grin the Cheshire Cat would be proud of.

_The day before_

_ "Sophie, don't forget to do the thing," Parker declared as she sat in the van, her legs tapping eagerly._

_"We won't forget Parker," Sophie reassured, before she gave Nate a nod, instructing him to get into position._

_When she saw he was in the corner of the room she fell, letting out a sharp scream as she did. As planned, all heads turned and everyone around her rushed to her aid; all distracted from Nate who lifted up the walking stick he was carrying, placing the end on the motion sensor, before pressing a button on the hilt, letting out enough spray of grey paint to cover the sensor._

_"My ankle, thank you, thank you," Sophie muttered to the men and security guards offering her their hands and support._

_"That's a pretty nifty device Hardison," Nate declared as he walked away, allowing Sophie to finish her bit; he was always impressed with the hackers' work._

"You're sure this worked?" Eliot enquired; the security expert in him ever so determined to double check everything.

_ "Seriously? Seriously?,"_ Hardison began. _"I can hack into the CIA, NSA, MI6, Interpol and Nate's old school records and you doubt my innovations involving a can of paint?"_ Hardison replied.

_ "He means yes,"_ Sophie stated.

_ "That's what I said,"_ the hacker whined. _"Look, the paint's base is silicon; the stuff's not transparent to in-fared energy so the sensor physically can't pick you up,"_ he reassured.

"We good to go then?" the hitter enquired but, before anyone could respond, the thief was running across the room to her designated paintings; the Picasso and the Gaugin. Eliot rolled his eyes and jogged quietly across the room.

_ "Don't say it Parker!"_ Sophie exclaimed from the van, knowing that Parker was just edging to complain.

"But their paintings don't even have any sensors or trackers on them!"

_ "Which is good for us!"_

"But…" the thief continued as she carefully pulled her first painting off the wall.

_ "No buts."_

Parker huffed loudly as she pulled down the second painting and strapped them to her back pack.

"We good to go?" Eliot said as he gestured towards their exit, the Van Gogh sticking bulky out of his backpack.

"Yes," Parker replied simply.

_ "Alright guys," _Nate began_ "Head back to the van and time for part two."_

* * *

**Thanks for the follows, reads and reviews, keep it up!**

**Final chapter up in a few days =)**


	3. Part 3

After several hours of welcome sleep the team, one by one and by unspoken agreement, convened in Nate's room.

"We should steal paintings more often," Parker declared as she sat cross-legged on the ground, rocking excitedly from side to side.

"Did you sleep at all Parker?" Nate enquired; the thief shook her head.

"Don't need to; had a lotta cereal," she informed him. "And energy drink."

"Ah ha."

"So we right to hit part two of this master plan?" Hardison asked, throwing himself on the couch. Nate nodded.

"You and Parker'll take the paintings to the drop point, Eliot'll stand guard. Sophie will call it in and I will," he paused. "Supervise."

"And by supervise you mean chill in the hotel?" Hardison clarified.

"Of course," Nate stated as he grinned.

"You're sure this is gonna be enough to stop these guys?" Eliot questioned and Nate pondered for a second.

"If these guys are the type of criminal we thing they are; careful, calculated and clearly intent on not getting caught, I think so," Nate said, explaining his reasoning.

"That and we've taken all the good loot," Sophie exclaimed. "All the actual good stuff anyway. Who did you switch out the painting for anyway?" she continued, directing the question towards the thief as she wondered, in the back of her mind, who exactly this 'friend' was.

"Didn't think you had any friends," Eliot muttered offhandedly

"He told me I was his friend; after I did the job he was like 'thanks friend; hope I can return the favour'. Isn't that something friends do?"

"He?" Hardison queried worriedly.

"Has he ever returned the favour?" Nate enquired, wondering if this mysterious "friend" of Parker could ever be useful. The thief shook her head.

"We're on the TV!" Sophie exclaimed, unmuting the TV which had been on in the background.

_"Police are baffled by the theft of three major artworks from the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester University, valued at over four million pounds,"_ the newscaster informed.

"Four point seven," Sophie declared.

_"The theft of the artwork wasn't discovered until minutes before opening; the thieves managing to avoid all security in what the Manchester Police are describing as "well planned". Police, at this point, have no leads."_

"We got prime coverage," Hardison declared, switching the television off.

"Good," Nate said. "Now we can be sure the other thieves know what went down."

"We gonna do this?" Eliot enquired.

"Lets go…" Nate began, then paused, not entirely sure what to say next.

"Unsteal some paintings?" Parker offered and the rest of the team shrugged.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eliot drove around the block once more, double checking there were no witnesses or police at the dump site which was only 200 meters away from the gallery.

"Really Eliot?" Hardison complained. "Let's just dump them and go."

_ "You can't just dump million dollar art,"_ Sophie exclaimed.

Eliot pulled the car over and popped open the trunk. "Go dump the million dollar art," Eliot stated to Parker and Hardison, taking the moment to tease the grifter. "And be quick about it."

The thief and hacker got out quickly and walked around to the trunk. The pair pulled out the paintings, now removed from their frames and rolled them up.

"Careful Parker," Hardison exclaimed in response to the thief's forceful rolling of the art.

"It's fine!" she declared as slammed the painting into a cardboard with unnecessary force; an action which was met with the unmistakable sound of tearing.

_ "What was that?"_ Nate exclaimed over the comms.

Hardison quickly, but carefully, pulled the painting out examining the corner of the canvas. "Uh oh," he declared.

_ "What's uh-oh?"_ Sophie queried.

"We may or may not have slightly damaged one of the paintings.

_ "How slightly?"_ Nate asked.

"A small tear in one of the corners," Hardison replied.

_ "Which one?"_ Sophie enquired. _"Please not the Van Gogh."_

"It totally wasn't the Van Gogh," Parker declared, sarcasm laced into her voice.

"Dammit Hardison!" Eliot swore.

"Wasn't my fault!"

_ "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter,"_ Nate said loudly, knowing that if he did not intervene now the two would continue arguing for hours. _"Just put the paintings in the drop zone. Do you have the note?"_

"Right here," Eliot said, holding a piece of paper out the window for Hardison to grab. The hacker, carrying the tube with him, walked up to the window, snatched the piece of paper from the hitter, opened it up and read it.

"What did a child write this?" he declared looking at the second rate hand writing.

"I wrote it with my left hand," Eliot said groughly. "So they can't identify the hand writin'."

"Ain't gonna be a problem 'cause they ain't gonna be able to read it," Hardison joked.

"Just dump the damn paintings Hardison."

Hardison did as he was told, and he and Parker made their way to small dingy toilet block in the back of the park.

"You're sure this is an okay place to keep them?" Parker enquired. "Seems a little damp."

_ "It's fine Parker,"_ Nate declared; the irony of the thief worrying about damaging paintings she had just played a part in harming lost on all but Parker.

Parker shrugged and Hardison placed the tube of paintings on top of the toilet seat.

"Really?" she asked sarcastically. "We have to at least make it look believable."

"It's fine Parker," Hardison urged; extremely eager to get back to the hotel and watch the season finale of Dr Who (which, because of their location, he did not have to wait to torrent and could just watch it live). Parker shook her head and picked up the roll and lightly shoved it behind the toilet seat.

"There," she stated as she grinned.

_"Good,"_ Nate declared. _"Get back to the hotel; our flight leaves at 2 am."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wow, just, wow, oh my, how, what, gargh," Hardison mumbled as they sat in the lounge, waiting to board their flight.

"Hardison!" Sophie yelled, rubbing her temples. "We get it; it was a mind blowing episode of Doctor Who but its," she paused to look at her watch. "1:50 in the morning. How 'bout a little peace?"

"All passengers please be aware that flight TT179 to New York is now boarding," a feminine voice declared over the loudspeakers.  
"Sophie?" Nate prompted.  
"Yes," the grifter replied, pulling out her phone. "You're sure they can't trace this?"

"You doubt me?" Hardison queried.

"Just checking Hardison," she replied then dialled.

_"Hello," _an Irish female voice greeted over the phone.

"Hi," Sophie replied in a timid voice. "I have, uh, information, about the paintings that were stolen."

_"Go on,"_ the voice on the other end of the phone prompted.

"They're hidden in the back of a public toilet block about," she paused and looked at Nate, who held up two fingers as a prompt. "200 meters from the gallery."

_"Can you tell me your name ma'am?"_ the woman asked.

"No, uh, sorry. I'd prefer this to be anonymous."

_"Very well,"_ she replied, sounding disappointed. _"Can you tell me how you came by this…"_

Sophie hung up the phone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_"...the paintings were found in the back of a toilet block just 200 meters from the Gallery where they were stolen from along side a note rumoured to state that paintings were stolen to highlight how bad the security was. Although police believe that the paintings were returned as the thieves realised they would be too difficult to sell."_

"That's ridiculous!" Parker declared as she flicked off the TV. "Those paintings could be easily fenced!"

"Tell me about it," Sophie agreed. "I once fenced four paintings under the nose of the original curator and district attorney."

"But it worked," Hardison exclaimed. "No one else has robbed the gallery."

"And our client is safe," Eliot added.

"We should steal more paintings," Parker said once again; Nate shrugged his shoulders.

"We'll see," Nate stated. "We'll see."

* * *

**So I hope you guys enjoyed that, I certainly enjoyed writing it.**

**MoonFaith- I hope that settles any character inconsistencies for you =)**

**As usual, let me know what you guys think. And thanks for all of your reviews. I appreciate it greatly =)**


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